4 Comments

Skype Is Dead?

Oct 2, 2007
by

I’ve been reading all day that Skype is dead. It seems that eBay wrote down a bit of its investment in Skype. As if that matters.

OK, so it was 1.43 billion dollars (yeah, billion with a capital B).

I think it’s too early to say that this was a failed acquisition. It hasn’t met expectations in the two years since eBay bought Skype. So what!

I’ve been wrong before about potential but let’s look at Skype’s potential both within eBay and in changing the world.

Calling All eBay PowerSellers

Wouldn’t it be nice if buyers could reach eBay PowerSellers to ask questions? Or if shoppers could call stores on Shopping.com? Oh, maybe the Shopping.com calls could monetized… you think?

Pay Per Call

People are talking a lot about pay per call. They are talking. Some people are doing. Not many.

I Want my MTV

What I really want is to be able to make calls using Skype on any phone or WiFi enabled device. What’s so great about the iPhone and iPod Touch? Well, a lot. Now imagine using Skype over WiFi on your iPod Touch.

Something Is Missing

You can point out all of the missing pieces (e.g. a mic on the Touch). The main point is that the world isn’t ready for what Skype offers. Skype may also not be ready. Calls to landlines aren’t always clear. Pay per call isn’t built yet.

Again, so what! Given Skype’s user base and lead in market penetration and technology, this is one horse I’d be on in the long-run. Maybe the problems lie elsewhere.

Filed under: Sounding Off
  • http://www.cumbrowski.com Carsten Cumbrowski

    They lost a lot of appeal for me when they started charging for skype-outs to US phones earlier this year. This made them just another provider of VOIP. The free land line calls within the U.S. was going a long way and I am not sure if it was the smartest decision to stop giving it away for free and start charging for it.

    It was still cheap for international calls and I would probably make them with Skype, if I would have Skype still running in the background, what I don't since, well early this year.

    They lost a lot of appeal, but you are right regarding ebay, who could add features to the service that makes it stick out again and appeals to existing ebay customers, which are are a lot of people.

  • http://www.internetgeekgirl.com Stephanie Agresta

    Man – all the death analogies! I love my skype.. :)

  • http://www.amwso.com/affiliate_blog/affiliate_marketing_blog.php Dave Oliver

    The analogy that Skype is *dead* is a bit over the top, but Ebay definitely overpaid (by about a BILLION dollars) for the service. It's a failed acquisition in that they just paid way too much. What were they paying for — the userbase? In the USA, there just isn't a heavy adoption of Skype, and that's simply because it's really not needed. High quality phone service (not talking about mobile) is inexpensive and readily available.

    Were they paying for the innovation? VoIP is a commodity now, and Skype's service isn't really anything special. There are a host of other innovators out there, Jaxtr, Jangl, Jajah (what's with the J's?), that will fit even better with customers calling powersellers. You want VoIP calling over the mobile, check out Gizmo Project. Skype has just fallen way to behind on the innovation front.

  • http://www.evokemg.com Dave Cole

    I think eBay's problem is that they've got themselves a great product that's used by millions of people every day and they can't figure out how to propel growth to an even superior level from where they already are.

    In my opinion, Skype should've been IMMEDIATELY integrated in to eBay – "Skype this seller", etc., and the Skype brand itself should've been extended as well.

    It's a bad acquisition price, but eBay has also let Skype flounder under their banner.